One of his more noteworthy bouts included a 15-round draw with Mysterious Billy Smith and a 15-round loss to George "Kid Lavigne" in March and December 1895, respectively.

[5] Walcott first challenged for the lightweight championship on October 29, 1897, at the Lennox Athletic Club in New York City, but he was TKO'ed by the champion George "Kid" Lavigne in the 12th round.

[7] On February 23, 1900, Walcott met the Jewish light heavyweight Joe Choynski, winning in a surprising seventh-round TKO, though outweighed by 16 pounds and conceding his opponent a full foot advantage in height.

"[9] On September 27, 1901, Walcott impressively defeated Irish boxer George Gardner in a twenty-round points decision at the Mechanic's Pavilion in San Francisco, California.

[11] Walcott won the world welterweight title on December 18, 1901, in Buffalo, New York, from reigning champion James "Rube" Ferns achieving a technical knockout in the fifth round.

[7][12] The bout featured a clinch in the fourth round that brought both boxers to the mat, possibly a result of a tiring Walcott attempting to counter Fern's six-inch height advantage and superior reach.

[13] The Toronto Star wrote "Walcott battered down Ferns with terrific body blows, and right and left swings to the head.

In their previous encounter in August 1900, the fight had gone as such according to a newspaper called the Durango Democrat: "The bout had gone eleven rounds very much in Wolcott's favor, as he had punished West very badly about the body and head and had him in a very weakened condition.

There was quite a large sum of money wagered, with West as favorite and the referee is very outspoken in reference to Wolcott's peculiar actions.

"[14] With their first 5 fights having been in America, they fought their final battle, for the world welterweight championship, at the National Sporting Club, Covent Garden in London, England.

On June 18, 1903, Walcott fought Young Peter Jackson, an exceptional black contender to a twenty-round draw, in Portland, Oregon, in a match billed as a world welterweight championship.

Up until the time of the knockout, Walcott was considered to have a slight lead over Jackson, as his blows to the head and neck of his opponent were not landing with much force.

[18] Walcott met world lightweight champion Joe Gans in a non-title fight at Woodward's Pavilion in San Francisco on September 30, 1904, and scored a draw after 20 rounds.

[7][6] Before a crowd of 3,000, Walcott officially lost the world welterweight championship on October 16, 1906, against William "Honey" Mellody at the Lincoln Athletic Club in Chelsea, Massachusetts.

Falling to a twelfth-round technical knockout, Walcott quit the bout, claiming his left arm had been injured in the ninth round.

[21] Returning to the ring on January 15, 1907, Walcott lost a fifteen-round decision on points to Mike Donavan in Providence, Rhode Island.

Though winning only a few of his remaining bouts, Walcott succeeded in twice beating George Cole, a competent hard hitting middleweight from Philadelphia, in December 1907 and January 1908.

In fact, of their December meeting in Philadelphia, one source noted that "with the exception of the third round when Cole sent over some very hard punches, the "battle was Walcott's all the way.

New York's Evening World stated that Walcott's performance "did not come up to expectations" and that Gardner's win "was one of the easiest victories he ever earned.

[24][25] It was believed that Joe was walking along Route 30 in the village of Dalton, Ohio (8 miles west of Massillon) and was struck and killed by a car.